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Tuesday, 30 December 2014

The Foreign Ministry will help local governments tear down
overseas barriers on food imports maintained because of worries over
radiation, sources said.

Some states still ban some imports of agricultural, forestry
and fishery products because of the fear of contamination from Tokyo
Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. As a result, the
ministry will cooperate with local governments in organizing events
overseas to assure regulators and consumers that products are safe.

In 2015, the ministry plans to hold two to three such events, the sources said Sunday.
Unfounded rumors are a matter of life and death for municipalities where agriculture, fisheries or forestry are key industries.

The ministry said 13 countries, including Canada and
Vietnam, have lifted import restrictions imposed after the accident on
agricultural, forestry and fishery products from affected areas, but
nine economies including South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan still have
bans.
South Korea bans marine products from prefectures such as Miyagi and Fukushima.

Many countries also implement some kind of import control, such as requiring safety certificates.

When the ministry holds the events abroad, it will give
assistance through embassies, aiming to allay concerns among local
companies and media organizations.

A senior ministry official said the support for local
governments boils down to wanting to disseminate correct information and
to sell Japan’s attractions.

Monday, 29 December 2014

Masaharu Tsubokura, center, and the members of the Veteran Mothers' Society in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture

December 29, 2014

MINAMI-SOMA, Fukushima Prefecture--Mothers living
near the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have compiled a booklet
offering basic knowledge about radiation and explanations addressing
safety concerns arising from the disaster.
The booklet, titled “Yoku Wakaru Hoshasen Kyoshitsu”
(Radiation and Health Seminar), is available in both Japanese and
English and was created by the Veteran Mothers’ Society, which consists
of five mothers from the city of Minami-Soma.
The members, some of whom are former high school classmates, decided to create the booklet “for children’s sake.”
The information incorporates lessons learned from doctors at
seminars the group organized following the accident at Tokyo Electric
Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in March 2011.
Amid the confusion and fears over radiation after the
disaster unfolded, the mothers convened their first seminar for children
and guardians in December 2011. They invited Masaharu Tsubokura, a
doctor of hematology from the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Medical
Science who had been providing consultations at the Minami-Soma
municipal general hospital.
Other physicians later joined the effort to spread accurate
information about radiation, and the mothers have held the sessions once
or twice a month.
In the seminars, the children peppered Tsubokura with questions, such as “Can I touch my pets?” and “Is it OK to lick the snow?”
Ikumi Watanabe, the society’s 54-year-old vice chairwoman,
recalled that Tsubokura’s explanations “were spoken in an
easy-to-understand manner so the information popped straight into our
heads. It was nice that we could talk with him on the same level and in
person.”
Even now, the nature of the questions has not changed much.
“People have felt pressured not to talk about radiation, and
some mothers have finally gotten the information only now, more than
three years after the accident,” Tsubokura said. “I hope I can help them
make decisions without thinking negatively about themselves or losing
their self-confidence.”
In addition to basic knowledge, such as the differences
between external and internal radiation exposure and between becquerels
and sieverts, the booklet answers questions like: “Can radiation be
transmitted from one person to another?” and “Is the tap water OK?”
According to the Veteran Mothers’ Society, 20,000 copies of
the Japanese version were distributed to schools, companies and other
organizations. The English version has been ordered by international
schools, international exchange organizations and other groups.
Inquiries to the Veteran Mothers’ Society can be made via email (beteranmama0808@gmail.com).
Source: Asahi Shimbun
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201412290023

MINAMI-SOMA, Fukushima Prefecture--The central
government lifted on Dec. 28 the last recommended evacuation advisory
for several districts in this city, saying radiation levels from the
nuclear accident fell below the annual exposure limit.
However, many of the residents of 152 households within these districts voiced their opposition to the lifting.
The central government designated areas that registered high
radiation levels outside the zones under mandatory evacuation orders as
specific recommended evacuation spots following the triple meltdown at
the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The residents living within
these locales were encouraged to evacuate from their homes.
The districts in Minami-Soma were designated as such because
they were at risk of exceeding the annual accumulated dose limit of 20
millisieverts, or 3.8 microsieverts per hour.
The central government in June 2011 issued the advisory for
some locales in the cities of Minami-Soma and Date and the village of
Kawauchi, all in Fukushima Prefecture, home to 281 households. The
advisory for Date and Kawauchi was lifted earlier.
Central government officials explained their latest decision
to the residents and local officials, saying that the health risks are
not expected because radiation levels in their sites now measure well
below the designated limit of 20 millisieverts.
They also presented support measures to encourage the residents to return to their homes.
However, evacuee Katsuji Sato, among the residents of the 152 households, said he would not immediately return home.
The 79-year-old, who lives in temporary housing in
Minami-Soma, had lived in a family of six of four generations before the
Great East Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, set off the
nuclear disaster.
Sato’s mother died where she evacuated to, and his eldest
son, the son’s wife and their elementary school child moved to Miyagi
Prefecture.
“My wife and I cannot return to our home even though we want to unless decontamination work is undertaken again,” Sato said.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201412290040

The head of the Takakura district, right, reads aloud a statement in
opposition to the lifting of a recommended evacuation advisory to
officials of the nuclear emergency local response headquarters in
Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Dec. 21.

Friday, 26 December 2014

Dec. 26, 2014
Tokyo
Electric Power Company has indicated that a new method aimed at
tackling a large volume of highly radioactive wastewater at the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has not been entirely successful.
TEPCO gave a progress report on its work to a panel of experts at the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Friday.
The
utility last month began pouring cement into underground tunnels filled
with the contaminated water from the reactor buildings to stop the
water inflow. The water is believed to be leaking into the sea.
TEPCO
officials told the panel that workers have completely filled the
U-shaped tunnels except for 4 vertical pits that connect the tunnels to
the ground surface. They removed 2,500 tons of radioactive water.
But
the officials said that when they pumped water up from one of the pits,
the water level at another pit changed. That suggests that gaps exist
in the concrete-filled tunnels.
The officials argued that they can
stop the water from flowing into the tunnels once the 4 vertical pits
are filled. But panel members and authority commissioners said more
thorough inspections are needed.
TEPCO plans to monitor water levels for a month, look for gaps, and study more effective ways to block the water.
The
utility initially planned to freeze wastewater at the end of the tunnel
to stop inflow from the reactor buildings and remove the water. But the
plan did not work.

Sunday, 21 December 2014

December 21, 2014
OKUMA, Fukushima Prefecture--Tokyo Electric Power Co. removed the
last four nuclear fuel assemblies that remained in the No. 4 reactor
building of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant from its
storage pool on Dec. 20.
The No. 4 reactor was offline at the time of the March 11,
2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. However, an explosion
occurred in the building four days later, seriously damaging it.
After the accident, experts pointed to the risk of nuclear
fuel in the pool melting from insufficient cooling and releasing a large
amount of radioactive materials. However, the threat has been mitigated
with the removal of the last assemblies.
On Dec. 20, TEPCO allowed the media to watch the removal work.
Workers pulled up from the pool a cask containing the last
four unspent nuclear fuel assemblies. They plan to transfer it to the
No. 6 reactor building, which sustained relatively minor damage in the
disaster, within a few days after decontaminating the outside of the
cask.
The transfer will mean that all of the nuclear fuel in the
No. 4 building has been removed from the building as scheduled by
year-end.
The pool had held a total of 1,535 nuclear fuel assemblies,
which consisted of 1,331 spent and 204 unspent nuclear fuel assemblies.
TEPCO started the removal of those assemblies from the pool
in November 2013 after installing a new roof and a crane on the
building. The removal of spent nuclear fuel assemblies concluded in
November this year.
There will be no work in the No. 4 reactor building for the
time being. TEPCO will be engaged in efforts at the No. 1, No. 2 and No.
3 reactor buildings and in dealing with the growing volume of
contaminated water partly resulting from efforts to keep the reactors
from overheating.
Source: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201412210014

Workers use a cask to remove unspent nuclear fuel assemblies from a
storage pool at the No. 4 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1
nuclear power plant on Dec. 20.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency says 75 percent of the radioactive substances released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant came more than 4 days after the accident.

The government's investigation has not released what happened during this period. Experts say the reason needs to be determined as to why massive amounts of radioactive materials continued to be released for a prolonged period.

The nuclear accident in Fukushima has been evaluated as the worst, at level 7, on a par with the Chernobyl accident in 1986, due to the large amount of radioactive substances that were released. But the details on how the substances were released remain unknown.

A research group at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency collected new data on radiation detected near the plant over time to analyze how radioactive materials were released into the air.

The research has found that an estimated 470,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances had been released by the end of March 2011, when the discharge is believed to have mostly subsided.

The research group says 25 percent of the radioactive materials were released during the first 4 days of the accident, as the meltdown and hydrogen explosions were happening, while 75 percent were released over the 2-week period that followed.

The group also analyzed how the radioactive materials spread, using the climate data at the time. They found that contamination in places where former residents are still not allowed to return became serious on March 15th -- 4 days after the accident.

They also say radioactive substances released between March 20th and 21st spread to a wider area, including the Kanto region, and are believed to have contaminated drinking water supplies.

The outcome of the analyses indicates that radioactive materials continued to be released after the first 4 days, which is believed to be the critical time during which the situation was deteriorating out of control.

The government's investigation has focused on the first 4 days, and has not determined the cause of the massive release of radioactive substances following that period.

Masamichi Chino of the research group says the cause needs to be determined to prevent future accidents and to bring the situation under control quickly if another accident happens.

More than 120,000 people are still forced to live in temporary shelters.

Six municipalities remain off limits due to high levels of contamination.

The head of Japan's nuclear watchdog said
contaminated water stored at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power
plant should be released into the ocean to ensure safe decommissioning
of the reactors.
Shunichi Tanaka, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulation
Authority, made the comment Dec. 12 after visiting the facility to
observe progress in dismantling the six reactors. The site was severely
damaged in the tsunami generated by the 2011 earthquake.
"I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of tanks (holding
water tainted with radioactive substances)," Tanaka told reporters,
indicating they pose a danger to decommissioning work. "We have to
dispose of the water."
With regard to expected protests by local fishermen over the
discharge, Tanaka said, "We also have to obtain the consent of local
residents in carrying out the work, so we can somehow mitigate (the
increase in tainted water)."
Tanaka has said previously that to proceed with
decommissioning, tainted water stored on the site would need to be
released into the sea so long as it had been decontaminated to accepted
safety standards.
"While (the idea) may upset people, we must do our utmost to
satisfy residents of Fukushima," Tanaka said, adding that the NRA would
provide information to local residents based on continuing studies of
radioactive elements in local waters.
The inspection tour was Tanaka's second since he became NRA chief in September 2012. He last visited in April 2013.
During his visit, Tanaka observed work at a trench on the
ocean side of the No. 2 reactor building, where highly contaminated
water is being pumped out. He also inspected barriers set up around the
storage tanks to prevent leaks of tainted water.
Tanaka praised the completion in November of work to remove
all spent nuclear fuel from the No. 4 reactor building, as well as
changes to work procedures that he said allows for the completion of the
work at the No. 2 reactor trench.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201412130042